Occupied Engagement
by todaviadulce
Summary: In a world where vampires have too much power, the fae are trying to get all their kind out. Part-fae Sookie Stackhouse takes on a challenge to help her kind until she catches the eye of a certain 1000-year-old vampire who needs her help.
1. Chapter 1

**Óla! First story, no beta, still figuring things out. This story is totally inspired by Mazza666's lovely story The Dark Side of Light (which is incidentally inspired by the Night Huntress books) and you should check both out.**

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"Faster faster faster faster," I chanted under my breath as the unknown vampire closed in. I was leading four part-fae to the closest fairy portal. I had done it a half-dozen times before without any issues. Not so much as a stubbed toe.

We had always made the journey during the day, always finishing hours before sundown and when vampires would be out and could put a major damper on our plans.

This time, however, everything that could go wrong, did. Which is how I find myself with four fae-human hybrids trying to run away from a rapidly approaching vampire.

The night the vampires took over the government, my grandfather called me with an offer. Niall had told me to be stay clear of the vampires when he first revealed to me years ago that I was part-fae and his great-granddaughter, when the vampires had their big reveal.

He warned me to be wary. We couldn't know for sure unless one of them drank from me, but he assumed I would be a treat to them. Niall explained that he had more to worry about being fully fairy, since his blood was the sweetest drug-like substance to them. He lived in the fairy realm and initially wasn't going to reveal himself or our blood ties to me at all. Niall is a prince but apparently there had been infighting among the different clans and his family was targeted. He thought the Stackhouses would be safer in little Bon Temps living in ignorance of our magical, royal heritage.

But as he watched the vampires after the great revelation become more powerful and start a database of humans, he decided he had to act. The database was touted as a national registry that would bring us into "the future of record-keeping" by using biometric data, including blood. Niall had information that suggesting it also had the added bonus of tracking down the tastiest blood, leading the vampires to all the fae and part-fae.

Which is where the offer comes in. Niall let me know if I or Jason were to submit ourselves to the database, our lives as we know it would be over. They would take and lock us up and draw blood and force us to mate with others like us to keep up the tasty blood supply. He also pointed out when they found out about my telepathy, a quirk I've had since I can remember, they might turn me so they could enslave me indefinitely. He offered us sanctuary in the fairy realm.

Since Gran had passed recently, and Niall made a very convincing argument (the nightmares I had after our talk still make me shudder), we left. It was hard to leave Bon Temps, but the fae and our extended family were welcoming. And the realm was beautiful, I lived like a princess (which I guess, I was) and most importantly, the fae had natural mental shields that made my telepathy almost useless there. For the first time ever, I felt like I belonged.

When Niall asked me to occasionally help pull out other part-fae humans from Louisiana, I felt it was the least I could do. As a local who had gone through a similar experience, I could relate to them better than the rest of the fae, who could be pretty oblivious to human feelings. My little handicap was an added bonus to monitor how the potentials were taking the life changing offer and keep a lookout for danger. Plus, the portal to fae was in my backyard so I knew the area. It was how my Gran came to have an affair with Niall's grandson Fintan and mixed the faery into our blood line in the first place.

Which brings us back to this post-sunset evening, where I had spent too long convincing these part-fae to come with me and had the car break down.

This wouldn't be such a problem if I could teleport, removing the need for the car. I SHOULD be able to teleport them, one by one, right to portal. But after all the hours and hours of practice with my fully faery cousin, Claudine, I couldn't do it. She said since I was only getting exposed to the magic in the fae realm so late in life, it might take years to do what fae teenagers could do with barely any effort.

My four wards started to fall behind, less in shape than I had become with all the training with Claudine. I kept going. If I could just get to the portal, I could bring back help.

I "saw" the vampire, which felt like a blank space to my mind, catch up with the furthest behind, James. His mind went silent in what I assumed was glamour. The vampires' glamour was how they were able to take over the country in the first place, getting people of power under their influence. I was incredibly anxious of getting put through it and spilling my secrets, and pushed myself harder.

The other three minds went out just like James' but bought me a little time. I was no further than a football field distance away from the portal. But the void was almost done with the last of my charges and would be on his way to me in a moment. At his speed, I wouldn't make it.

I needed to buy myself some more time to get out of this mess. If I was to be captured, I couldn't be found out for what I was.

I took a hard left and ran to the edge of a small, swampy lake I knew from my years of living in Bon Temps. There were definitely gators in the lake, but I would sooner take my chances with the reptiles than the blood suckers. I splashed in as quietly as I could, and dropped to my belly as soon as the water was knee high.

I doubted I would escape the void's notice completely, but at least I could disguise my scent. Claudine said it was getting more prominent as I worked with her on my fae abilities. As I dropped into the water on the edge of the lake, I started rolling around, and covering my skin with the muck.

There was swamp grass along the edges, so I moved behind a patch. I needed the void to think I was hiding from him, nothing else. I patted my hair down, covering my long blonde hair with the dark mud. I held my breath as I waited for something to happen.

And then the void was there.

"Well hello darling, what are you doing in there?" the vampire asked me. He had dark hair and pale skin and some really out of style sideburns going on.

I looked at him in what I hoped was a frightened way, and considering how scared I was, I was probably pretty close. I made eye contact and braced myself for the glamour.

I felt something in my head. Not unpleasant, it almost reminded me of the singing bowl Claudine rang at the end of our lessons, a vibration in my skull that was hard to pinpoint. I concentrated on keeping it out and it dissipated. But instead of letting my relief come through, I kept my eyes locked on him and let me mouth go slack. This would look like I was under his thrall, hopefully. If they could tell it hadn't taken hold, I was screwed.

But the slacked jaw look seemed to work for the dark-haired vampire and he smiled paternalistically at me.

"That right darling, look at me and let's get you out of that muck," he said in what I recognized as a Louisiana drawl.

Could he be a local vampire? I guess I had assumed they were all exotic, coming from Europe or I don't know, Transylvania. Before I could think about it more than that, I climbed up to my feet, feeling pleased to see pretty much every inch of my skin and much of my clothes covered in swamp.

"You look awfully beautiful under all that," the vampire said. "We will just have to get you cleaned up to check for sure. Follow me."

So, lord help me, I followed him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Didn't feel right leaving you guys without Eric, so here you go. **

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We walked back from the way I came, picking up the others along the way. They all bore a similar glazed look that I had adopted. The vampire touched us on our arm, all in the same spot, where we should have a small chip inserted by the new vampire government. They weren't totally ubiquitous yet, and Niall had reached out to all the part-fae, leaving cryptic messages to avoid the insertion at any cost. Most had avoided them, and all four of my charges lacked them like me.

He put us all in crude handcuffs and attached them, like a chain gang and marched us along. My wrists started itching immediately, letting me know the handcuffs were iron. Since I am only a bit fae, the worst that would happen would be a little rash and incessant itching. According to Claudine, on a full fairy it could leave horrible burns.

The vampire was on his phone the entire time, having short clipped discussion, telling whoever on the other end of the line to come to an address I recognized as the old Compton place across the graveyard from my old home.

It was maybe a half a mile trek, giving me a few minutes to figure out what to do next. I couldn't outrun them and sunrise was almost 11 hours away. I wasn't sure what the vampires planned to do with us but I doubt it would be enjoyable. If I could manage to survive the night, I could maybe make a run for it after they had gone down for the day.

Eleven hours had never seemed so long a time.

We reached the old Compton place, which I could see had been cleaned up in the six months I had been in fae. The house looked to be freshly painted and had new lights mounted on the porch. The lights showed three more people waiting in yard. I reached out with my mind and counted three more voids. Great, just great.

The dark-haired vampire walked us up to the threesome.

"Bill," said a curly haired dark-skinned woman vampire said. "Are these all the undocumented humans you told us about?"

Bill? Like William? As in the William Compton who died in the Civil War, buried in the graveyard just a stone's throw away from here? If I was not so scared, I would be thrilled. My grandmother would have LOVED to meet a hometown Confederate soldier.

I was pulled out of my musing by a void in my personal space all of a sudden.

"This one is a bit spoiled," he said.

"She might be the best find out of all of them, Malcolm," the vampire I now think might be my next door neighbor said. Glad you believe in me, Bill, how very neighborly of you.

"What are you proposing we do with them?" Malcolm asked Bill.

"Why, you take one, enjoy them and get them added to the database when you are done," Bill said with a wry smile. "All I ask for is some favor, in the future, if you enjoy them."

Well, I thought the capture was the low part of my night. Maybe not.

My four wards were two men and two women. None were more than an eighth fae, like me, but they were all touched with the fairy beauty. The three vampires, Malcolm and Diane and the other unnamed vampire circled the group as Bill unclipped us from each other, leaving the cuffs on. Diane grabbed James and pulled him to her chest, Malcolm took the other guy, Craig, and the last vamp grabbed the girl Sara with his fangs out. None of the humans looked perturbed in the least.

Bill was looking at me while this was happening. I stood close to Julian, the last human. After the "might be the best" comment I had an idea that he would be the one I needed to escape. Bill opened his mouth to speak, when he suddenly whipped his head towards the graveyard as another figure slouched into his front yard.

"Mind if I join you?" the figure asked in a lazy way, as if he didn't care about the response or already knew the answer.

The three other vampires hissed in the figure's direction. I reached out and felt another void.

"Eric," Bill said stiffly. "What can I do for you sheriff, excuse me, I mean former sheriff?"

The figure, Eric, walked to just where porch lights reached and I caught my first glimpse of the vampire these four seemed to be on edge over. He was tall, at least six and a half feet, with shoulder length blond hair and a muscular build from what I could gather from his jeans and leather jacket clad frame. He was as pale as the others but beautiful in a way that most humans, hell even the fae, couldn't hope to match.

Eric narrowed his eye fractionally at Bill at what I imagined was a dig by the tone of Bill's voice. I didn't quite know what a former vampire sheriff did but maybe he was here to enforce some laws that would allow us to go free? What they were doing just couldn't be sanctioned by the new government. I quickly said a prayer under my breath.

"Why, I was just in the neighborhood and thought to drop by, Billy boy," Eric said with a smirk replacing his narrowed eyes. "And how fortuitous. It looks as though you are divvying up humans and have one too many."

The unnamed vampire hissed at Eric. "They are ours and you have no authority here, not anymore," he said.

"Now Liam," Eric said boredly. "I only want the spare. And I might not be sheriff, but since you need reminding, I will state the obvious. I am older than the four of you combined and I could kill the four of you in a blink of an eye and take all the humans."

Perhaps I prayed too soon. This isn't a savior. If he is older than the four of them combined, I might be better off with Bill. Niall had told me age increased their power and strength.

Bill sighed, in a very humanly way. "We do have an extra," he said. "Take your pick."

Eric smirked again. "I knew you would see it my way," he said.

Eric did the vamp speed move to the three vampires already holding their picks. He looked over the glazed expression one by one and then turned his head towards me and Julian. In three steps, he was standing very close to Julian, leaning in towards his neck and taking a sniff. He paused for a moment.

I started another prayer, this time that the muck had stayed smelly and he wouldn't get a whiff of anything appealing.

One step to the side, and Eric was in front of me staring in my eyes, which I tried to fix off in the distance. I had no idea what to do if a vampire tried to glamour me if I was already suppose to be glamoured. Would have been great to have a manual right about now.

"This one is a little dirty, Bill," he said without taking his eyes off my face.

"I found her hiding at the edge of a swamp," Bill answered.

"I see," Eric said. What did he see?

The rest were looking a little less glamoured, starting to wake up from the state they had been in. I used that as a cue that I could look down. I was getting a bad feeling about Eric. He knew something. I needed time to collect my thoughts. Getting picked by Eric was not an option, I had to find a way for Bill to take me, I had to–

"I'll take this one," Eric said.


	3. Chapter 3

Bill didn't like that at all. Maybe he wasn't into men and getting left with Julian was not ideal. Bill's fangs ran down as he stared at Eric's back. Eric, unlike the other grabby vampires, was still just looking intently at my face. At the sound of Bill's fangs, Eric turned to the smaller vampire and stared him down in a different way than he had just been staring at me.

Two long minutes passed before Bill's fangs snapped away, which I imagined was akin to waving a white flag. Eric continued to stare for another 30 seconds. He then switched gears, and looked at the others with the same bored expression that he had on when he entered the yard.

"It's been a pleasure," Eric said. The others looked at him sullenly but did not respond. Eric turned back to me and locking eyes. Oh great, going to have to fake the glamour again. Internally I sighed. I was exhausted, so letting a glazed look come over my eyes was not difficult.

"Follow me," Eric said with the same vibrating accompaniment in my head as before. He turned, walking off in the direction he came in. With a moment's pause to regret failing these people who I was suppose to be saving and instead ran them right into the vampires, I followed.

I walked silently behind Eric using the time to think through my options. I couldn't count on any fae help since I often take a few days to wrangle up some hybrids to bring back. No distress beacon to let them know anything was wrong. If this vampire was as old as he suggested, and the way the others kept their distance from him makes me think it was the truth, I doubt I could overpower him, even if I didn't have these shackles still on.

My best bet was to play the glamoured human, take whatever knocks came my way tonight and hope he left me untied so I could escape in the morning. If I played the glamoured human as well as I have been, leaving me unsecured wouldn't be unimaginable. Hopefully he wouldn't drain me. Hopefully.

We were halfway through the graveyard, with my old home in view when he suddenly grabbed me around the waist and shot skyward, completely pulling me out of my musing. I screamed at the top of my lungs and grabbed onto his forearms as tightly as I could.

"I knew you weren't glamoured," he said in my ear, surprising me out of my screamfest. He was holding me away from his body, probably because I was still covered in muck.

Fudge. There goes that plan. I vowed to keep my mouth shut and pursed my lips together.

He chuckled as he continued to fly us east, away from my home and away from the portal. I kept quiet so I couldn't give up another secret. And let's face it, there were plenty more. I decided to try and enjoy the unexpected experience of flying while not thinking it might be the last thing I ever do.

We flew for 10 minutes, fast enough to where I was shivering from the wind. He eventually slowed and brought us down next to a small lake. He grabbed the chain connecting my handcuffs and marched both of us into the direction of the water. When my feet splashed into the shore, the cold woke me up to the fact the muck was a line of defense I needed. Plus, I hate the cold, definitely a hot shower type of girl. I tried to dig my heels in and stop our advance.

"What? Noooo! No way! Please!" I pleaded.

"She speaks," Eric said as he looked back at me, not slowed down for a moment by my protests. He shrugged off his leather jacket and throwing it off to the side without slowing down a bit.

He dragged both of us right into the water, until I was almost up to my neck. He pulled my arms out above the water and started using his hands to wash off the muck that had hardened on my skin. It was way too familiar and intimate for my taste, but I wasn't going to help clean my defense off me. I especially refused to make eye contact and bit my lip hard as he cleaned off my hair.

When I was more or less clean, he broke the chain on my handcuffs with one hand, before snapping one of the cuffs completely off. He grabbed my upper arm and directed us back to the shore. Once there, he took my freed hand into his and rubbed his thumb along the red ridges on my wrist that marked where the iron had been touching my skin. He looked up to my eyes.

"Allergic to iron are we?" he asked.

I bit my lip and repeated my mantra of not spilling anymore secrets.

He continued to look at me with his eyebrow raised.

"What?" I said, my need to sass getting the better of me. "It doesn't mean anything. The cuffs were tight and I have sensitive skin."

His eyebrow raised even higher. I kept any further thoughts to myself. I didn't want Gran spinning in her grave all night. Being rude to anyone, even a vampire who was probably planning on draining me dry, would have earned me a lashing.

"You are right," he said slowly. "Being allergic to iron alone doesn't necessarily mean anything. But if you were to also be allergic to lemon, that might mean everything."

I looking at him passively. I wasn't allergic to lemon, and where is he going to get a lemon to test his theory out, anyway?

The vampire walked over to his jacket still laying on the ground and pulled out the smallest little lemon I had ever seen. SON OF A BISCUIT. Still, I was not that worried. I had never had an adverse reaction to a lemon before. But this vampire was apparently equipped to find fairies and that fact did put me on edge. The sooner I could get back to Niall and tell him about this old vampire and his little lemon, the better.

He ripped into the lemon and grabbed my handcuff-free hand. Then, to my horror, he squeezed it right on where my wrist was still raw from the iron exposure. For the second time that night, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

It hurt more than I thought was possible. I can only imagine that the acid from the scary monsters' mouths in Alien felt similar. I probably would have screamed all night if I didn't catch a glimpse of Eric's smirk.

"What did you do that for?" I shrieked pulling my hand away.

"You know why, fairy," he answered, still smirking away.

"You squeezed lemon juice on raw flesh," I argued. "Of course I'm going to react."

I walked over to the water's edge and crouched so I could dunk my hand and wrist into the water, bringing instant alleviation. I sighed with relief.

"It wouldn't be so bad if you weren't allergic," he said from behind me. "I've checked. Being fae could also explain why you can't be glamoured."

I shook my head at the image of this vampire giving people papercuts and then squeezing lemon juice on them to test his theory. Before I could come up with another reason for my reaction, Eric continued.

"I need a favor from a fairy," he said. "I promise I will not do anything untowards to you and will release you afterwards. I would be in your debt, in fact."

I stood up from the water's edge and turned to him to give him a look I had gotten from Gran hundreds of times. Color me skeptical. "And what exactly is a vampire's definition of untowards?" I huffed.

Eric smiled at that. "This vampire's definition of untowards is no biting, no unwanted advances," he said. "A much better situation than you would have had at the hands of Bill or the disco triplets."

I stared at him intently. He was as soaked as I was from our trip into the lake. He looked at me with what I can imagine was his attempt at a guileless expression. He was not acting the way I expected. I had been warned of vampires, that they had no self-control and would do nothing for anyone. Eric seemed reasonable. Maybe it would be better to admit to being fae and doing this favor quickly before I slip up or he discovers my familial ties and telepathy. If the favor is fast enough, I could even go save the others.

"What type of favor," I asked slowly.

"I need a fairy to transport into a silver vampire prison and teleport a vampire out," Eric said not missing a beat. He said it like it was as easy as going to the corner store for some milk.

"It's not that simple," I said. "Not all fae can teleport."

"That's not how I understand the fae power," Eric said.

Geez, this guy had done his research. He was right, to a point, full fae and hybrids more fae than me could teleport. "I'm more human than fae," I argued. " I can't teleport myself, much less with something as big as another person."

"You didn't grow up in their realm, did you?" Eric said, steepling his fingers under his chin. "You seem Southern. If you had been raised there, you'd be acting much holier than thou."

"You should talk, kidnapper," I shot back.

"If I can sense you are fae, you should be fae enough," he continued after my interruption. "The way I understand the power is it is always there. It's a fail-safe."

"Do you really think I would be here if I could teleport?" I asked flatly. It was a valid point. I was beginning to hope he'd let me go. Maybe I could promise to ask for help from another fae. I doubt any would offer to do a favor for a vampire and rescue another vampire from a bunch of other vampires, but still. I would totally ask.

"I left one handcuff on so the iron would stop you until I could offer to help you save those other fae if you did my favor," he said. He reached over and snapped the other one off. "Now that you know I will save your friends if you do this favor in return, teleport now."

I froze. He knew the rest were fae too. As much as the offer was tempting, I simply couldn't teleport. As I hesitated, the atmosphere around us changed. Eric's fangs snapped down and a growl came from his chest.

"You think you can lie to me, fairy?" he snarled. "Run. I'll give you a 30-second head start. You better hope you can teleport. Otherwise I will console myself with a treat."

Bewildered at the change but with my survival instincts apparently intact, I turned and bolted. I ran blindly through the trees, no time to orient myself and head back towards the portal.

I heard him before I saw him. He was running behind me, not vampire speed but pretty freaking fast. He was running fast enough to gain on me. I would do more wind sprints when I got back to the realm because I felt like I was moving like molasses even with death right behind me.

My heart was beating out of my chest. And then he bellowed and threw himself at my legs, knocking me down. I tried kicking him off me but that only seemed to piss him off and he snarled at me. He lunged towards my neck and I shut my eyes as I braced for impact.

But nothing came.

I opened my eyes, looking at a smug Eric about five feet away. He hadn't moved, but I had.

"Told you," he said.

My eyes widens as I took in my surrounds, definitely a few feet away from where he tackled me.

"I teleported," I said.

Eric nodded.

I couldn't help but grin. My heart was still hammering away but I had teleported. Claudine would be so proud.

"Now that both you and I know you can, in fact, teleport," Eric said, wiping the grin right off my face. "Let's continue our talk about the favor."

"You may not believe me, but this is the first time I ever teleported," I said. "I don't know if I could do it again, especially if there isn't a screaming vampire behind me."

"I did not scream," Eric said indignantly. "And I believe you. We will train until you are more certain of your abilities."

I rubbed my eyes, breathing out, still trying to calm down. At least he believed me. "That could take months," I said.

"We do not have months," he said in clipped tones. "We will train every night, all night until you are ready, it will not take long."

I looked at him skeptically.

"We will start tonight," he said. "Get up and run again."


	4. Chapter 4

Training comprised of more chases. As hard as I tried to teleport before he tackled me, I couldn't do it. I did manage to teleport half the time after he had grabbed me, but then only a few feet. He would call it his win when I couldn't teleport fast enough by hovering his mouth over my neck, his fangs barely off my neck. This vampire's personal space bubble was nonexistent but he was up in mine almost nonstop.

I was feeling pretty banged up from hitting the ground constantly, he was not taking it easy on me. The teleporting was also draining. But he wasn't letting up even as I started getting sluggish.

Finally, after nearly breaking an elbow after he knocked me down especially hard, I decided I was finished.

"Ok, I am done for tonight," I said with as much finality in my voice as I could muster. "Today has been the worst day of my life and I am completely exhausted. We will have to pick this up tomorrow."

He looked up at me, still wrapped around my legs.

"So, I'll meet you back here tomorrow?" I asked hopefully.

Eric smirked at me.

"You will be coming home with me," he said, still smirking.

He let go of my legs and I got up slowly, brushing myself off as I tried to ignore the a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Is there anything I can say to convince you to let me go," I asked. "Any promise to go get a fairy that can do this Houdini act for you, anything at all?"

"No, he answered, getting up. "You will stay with me until you are ready to do me this favor, and then you are free. Not before that. You should be grateful, to get the chance to gain this useful skill and not be drained."

"You will forgive me if I don't send a thank you note," I said dryly. "What and where is home?"

"It's a safe house, not far from here," he answered, ignoring my sarcasm. "Let's go."

"Yes, sir," I muttered under my breath. Suddenly my vision was full of his chest.

"What is your name, fairy?" he asked, craning his neck to look down at me.

"It's Sookie," I answered.

"Sookie?" he said, sounding the name out experimentally. "You fae have some weird names."

"It's not fae," I said. "You were right about me not growing up there."

"Let's go, Sookie," he answered.

I actually hoped we might fly again but we trudged through the woods. I was beat. Walking was an effort. There would be no attempts at escaping tonight. We walked for ten minutes before we hit a clearing with a cabin.

He walked to the front door, unlocking it and stepping inside with me following tentatively behind. It was a bare room and felt abandoned, covered in a layer of dust and grit. Eric walked to the far wall and pushed a small, discrete panel to the side, revealing a keypad. He typed in something too quickly for me to follow and a section of the wall moved to reveal a set of stairs leading down.

He turned back to me and tilted his head toward the staircase.

"After you," he said.

I looked at him warily and then walked toward the staircase. It was dark and ominous and I was having a hard time trying to remember the promise he made to not drain me.

I walked past him and took a tentative step in the dark with a hand out in front of me. I descended 10 steps, counting as I went in case the information proved useful in an escape attempt.

My hand brushed up against cold metal. I reached out and felt a knob but a twist revealed it was locked. I jumped as I felt Eric reach over me and press something on the wall that brought up a faint light.

"An iris scan is needed to enter," he said as the metal door swung open.

I stepped into a bedroom. It was a little smaller than the upstairs, but room enough for a king-sized bed, a bureau and a small fridge with the power cord running out the room up the stairs. The floor was unfinished, as were the walls. There was a large mirror leaned against a wall but no other rooms, unless there was some more secret panels.

In my tired state, I eyed the bed hopefully. I knew it was liking going to sleep in a lion's den but I was nearly passed out where I stood.

Eric pulled me out of my revelry. "We will share the bed," Eric said.

That certainly woke me up.

"YOU will sleep on the floor," I blurted out. "I'm not sharing a bed with you."

"Are vampires that intolerable?" he asked neutrally.

I looked at him, with my mouth hanging open and the tired creeping back in, slowing my senses. Why should he care what I think about vampires?

"It's not because you are a vampire," I answered. "It's because you are holding me against my will and I don't make a habit of sleeping in bed with kidnappers. Or strange men at all, for that matter."

"I will not spend the day on the floor," he said. "If you'd like to sleep on cement, you are welcome to it."

I sighed. Loudly. I really did not have the fight in me but this was ridiculous.

"While you continue to mull your decision, you should know there is no way to leave this room without a code and iris scan," Eric said. "There is also nothing in here that can kill me while I'm dead for the day. This will save you some energy in case you are up before me."

Before I could offer up a retort, he continued. "I have some errands to run. I will be back shortly before dawn, which is still a few hours away. Make yourself at home."

And with that, he was gone.

I looked warily at the closed door, unsure if he would be waiting on the other side to trap me trying to escape. I decided I was too exhausted to make good decisions, much less a plan. I needed sleep. Tomorrow is another day, at least according to Scarlett O'Hara. I went to the far side of the bed, toed off my shoes, ignored my dirty but mostly dried clothes and laid as close to the edge as possible. I was asleep the moment I closed my eyes.

The next thing I was aware of was being cold. The room had been chilly when I went to bed but this was a more immediate cold. The second thing I noticed is that my pillow had grown very hard overnight. As I started coming to I realized to my horror the cold and the hardness were both coming from Eric, who I was currently clinging to under the blankets. He was lying flat on his back, with my head resting on his shoulder and my arm thrown over his naked chest. I scrambled back, tumbling out of the bed.

I got tangled in the sheets, pulling them off the bed to reveal a very naked Eric.

"Cheese and rice," I shrieked, totally startled at the pale, perfectly sculpted, unmoving body a few feet from me. I have woken up disoriented in fae more than once, but this took the cake.

I quickly got the sheet from around my feet and threw it over Eric's lower body. He hadn't moved during my minor freak out, so I could only hope that he was out. Niall had said they were as good as dead during the day but in this underground bunker I had no idea what time it was.

My face turned beet red at the thought of him knowing I woke up cuddling up to him and then saw him naked. I had taken a couple lovers in fae but I had not gotten so comfortable to where seeing a naked man unexpectedly did not have me a little panicked.

A few more minutes of stillness from Eric gave me the time to calm down and take in my situation. I looked around, trying to figure out how to get the upperhand. I'd have to rifle through the bureau to see if there was anything useful. He said there was nothing to kill him in the room, but I don't think I'd have it in me to kill anyone, anyway. I just wanted to go home.

I realized I was starved, having eaten more than 24 hours ago. I would need my strength for whatever came my way so I walked over to the small fridge, all while keeping an eye on the vampire. I was not going to be taken unaware in case he also woke up hungry.

In the fridge I found a sandwich and milk. I ripped open the sandwich bag as I twisted off the milk cap. I studiously ignored the bags of blood that took up most of the fridge. The sandwich looked like it was from some convenience store, but I couldn't remember a sandwich ever tasting so good. I sat on the floor and tore into it.

"Good evening, Sookie," Eric said, startling me out of my eating. Apparently a little ham and cheese is all it took to let my guard go down.

I turned to him with my eyes squinted in case he was out of the bed and uncovered. He was still in bed, propped up on his elbows but with the sheet covering up his bits.

"I assumed these were for me," I said, holding up the sandwich and milk. Eric nodded at me and I took another bite of the sandwich, a little self-consciously. This was such a crazy situation to find myself in.

"When you are done scarfing that down, we will begin training," he said with his eyes trained on my mouth. I swallowed and turned away from his stare.

"Ready when you are," I said.

Training was the same as the night before. As in, I was completely wacked by the end. There was no thoughts of escape the second night, or the third, or the nights that followed. I despaired for my wards but I didn't see how I could help them. Eric had kept his promise not to bite me and was keeping me fed and had even gotten me a change of clothes, but I was was never more than a few feet away from him. Escape was not going to happen.

But Niall or Claudine would probably start wondering where I was soon enough. I had never been gone this long since moving to fae. Once they came to human realm, they could zero in on my location and whisk me away.

In the meantime, I focused on teleporting. The routine had not changed from the first night, where he would chase me at fast, but not vampire speed, and throw himself at my legs to take me down.

He still tried to get his teeth hovering over my neck, which still signaled he won and to start again. He would push me late into the night even when I begged to be done. He also still wouldn't sleep on the floor and I was still too tired to argue long when we made it back to the cabin. And to my horror, I found myself curled around his prone body every evening when I woke up. Luckily, I always beat him up so my embarrassment was mine alone.

But I was getting better. I was able to teleport as he threw himself at my legs sometimes now, and further than a few feet. I was getting as far as a quarter mile away on my good jumps. Those wore me out, and I could never jump the same distance again that night. Which, apparently was not good enough.

"You have to be able to do two long jumps in quick succession," Eric said on the sixth night after I had jumped nearly half mile but was laid out on the ground afterwards, unable to even get up. "Otherwise you won't be able to escape."

"No shit, Sherlock," I huffed out.

He eyed me critically. "We will start practicing with you carrying object tomorrow," he announced. "You will soon be able to jump with more than yourself."

"Are we done for tonight then?" I asked.

"Yes," he said and turned back towards the cabin.

We walked silently for a few minutes until I decided to see if I could get information from him that could be useful without raising his suspicion. He had barely spoke to me since the first night, other than to tell me to get up and go again.

"Where did you find me?" I asked, breaking the silence.

He turned to me with a blank expression. "Bill Compton's ancestral home," he said. I must have looked confused because he elaborated. "He returned to it after his last human relative died recently."

"And you just happened to be walking by?" I prodded.

"I have been keeping an eye on Bill," he said. "I believe he has returned home for more than the memories."

"So are we still close by?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow, and I realized that sounded suspicious. "I only ask because, well, should we be on the look out for him?"

The answer must have been good enough because Eric's eyebrow went back down. "We are about two miles away. I am checking the area for his smell nightly."

I was doing a little victory dance in my head at the knowledge that I was so close to the portal when Eric continued, "But your smell has been a distraction."

"My what?" I asked.

"After you teleport the most delicious scent is left behind," Eric said. "Like someone has sprayed fairy perfume. It hasn't been dissipating quickly, either."

"Do I smell like it now?" I asked curiously.

"It clings to you slightly," he answered.

"Uhh, are you going to eat me?" I blurted out.

At that, Eric barked out a laugh before smirking at me.

"Only if you want me to eat you."

I turned beet red at his innuendo and gaped like a fish before closing my mouth and quickly walking ahead of him. Where did that come from?

When we got back to the cabin I decided to sleep on the floor I was so flustered by Eric's statement about eating me. I didn't know what he meant but I wanted to make clear that I was still kidnapped and still not happy to be here and definitely not interested in being eaten, in any sense.

Eric watched me as I stole the blanket and a pillow and tried to make a comfortable arrangement on the ground. I refused to look at him.

"Sookie," he started, but then paused.

"I'm done spending the night in bed with my kidnapper," I snapped. "Those people, I was responsible for them and they are probably dead because of me. You shouldn't have taken me from them. I could have handled Bill."

"They are not dead," he answered evenly. "That night I left and put an anonymous call into the authorities. They were saved before too much damage could be done. They will eventually be discovered for what they are but I've bought you some time to rescue them."

I had been laying down in my crappy little bed with my back to him, but as he admitted to saving my wards, I turned over and met his eyes. I was stunned.

"Thank you," I managed to say. I turned back away from him, slightly regretting literally having made my bed and now having to lie it in. My back was going to feel awful tomorrow but it would be weird to get back in the bed now.

"I will still help you if you want," Eric said. "When the time comes."

I didn't answer. I felt too confused over what I had learned that evening and needed to think.


	5. Chapter 5

Does anyone recognize my story photo? It was taken by Gordon Parks, my very favorite photographer. It's Ingrid Bergman (a Swede!) in Italy where she was being ostracized for an affair with her director when both were married. I love this photo of some witchy looking women giving the very beautiful but culturally different Bergman a disapproving look. It makes me think of Sookie.

* * *

I decided when I woke up that this was going to be the end of my imprisonment. I was sick of waiting. He was getting comfortable around me, enough to casually mention how close to the portal we were and flirt with me. I had even felt a moment of tenderness for him last night, which was not in the plan. He couldn't know how well I knew the area and didn't expect this. I would push myself, teleporting myself as close to the portal as I could, and then make a run for it.

As I did a few stretches before the first run, I tried to think through any problems I might come across. As long as I was pointed west, I would go in the right direction. Visualizing my destination had been helping, too. Even if he caught up with me, I'd be able to plausibly say I was just running his drills.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready."

I turned away from him, due west, and started running. Something about already being in motion seemed to help propel me in my teleportation. I didn't have to run as far as I did but I went a little further this time to help with the jump. I concentrated and visualized the woods near my home and the portal. I closed my eyes briefly and reopened them and found myself in familiar territory. I had jumped at least two miles, almost doubling my previous best.

I didn't allow myself to gloat before charging off in the direction of the portal. I was next to the cemetery that divided my home with Bill Compton's. I was on the side closest to the portal and no more than a minute flat out run. I took off, my heart soaring with what felt like a great chance of beating Eric. He would still be able to pick up my trail since I run in the direction I jump. That and the apparent fairy smell I leave behind.

My speed was flagging, the jump still a major exhaustion slowing me down even as the adrenaline flooded my veins. I was so close, I was feeling the now familiar electric tingle of the portal. The clearing was just beyond the line of hemlocks. I glimpsed my freedom and ticket home.

The tackle from behind caught me unaware. Eric hit me harder than usual and I gasped trying to get air back into my lungs.

"I knew I'd run into you again darling," a decidely non-Eric drawl said to me before fangs sunk in my neck. "Or at least one of your kind headed to the portal."

A moment passed as I processed my shock and realized Bill was the one currently sucking on me neck, casually making a reference to the fae portal. Another moment passed before I started to struggle.

"Let me go," I yelled as I tried to get my arms into position to push him off me. He disengaged from my neck and flipped me over. His chin was covered in my blood and his eyes were saucers.

"Why, I knew you were beautiful but your taste," he said. "Is exquisite."

And with that he bit into the other side of the neck while pinning my arms above my head. I kicked my legs and struggled but the tearing in my neck was distracting. And I felt tired from the jump and was this a draining? Was I feeling weaker? My thoughts were jumbled.

I kept trying to free my arms but it felt half-hearted even to me even as I gave it all I got.

I cried out pathetically. Bill made a noise of pleasure and I realized my vision was going black around the edges. This was not good. This was probably it, dying at the hands of my Confederate soldier vampire neighbor.

"Oh Billy Boy," I heard from some place just out of sight. "I thought your Southern upbringing would never allow you to take what was not yours."

Bill's fangs were suddenly not in neck and I heard him a growl before his weight was suddenly off me. I tried to get up to see what was going on but I couldn't even sit up. So I laid there weakly, hearing fighting until a wet ripping sound ended the rest of the noise.

"Sookie?" Eric asked from somewhere nearby.

I let out another pathetic cry in relief. Eric's face was suddenly in front of me, out of focus but most definitely him. I reached out and grabbed onto his shirt, refusing to let go. He sat down and cradled my head in his lap as I burst into tears. It was out of relief, but also delayed tears from the attack. It was a violation, very much like the ones I had suffered at the hands of a lecherous grand uncle as a child. I had not felt this awful since I was a little girl hiding from Bartlett.

"Thank you for saving me," I whispered.

He looked down at me with unconcealed worry in his eyes.

"Bill took a lot of blood, too much," he said. "I am going to give you some of mine so you heal."

"I don't want to turn into a vampire," I said, trying to focus my eyes on him.

"A little bit of blood will heal you, not turn you," Eric said. "Your heart is slowing down and we are far from a hospital. You will not survive unless you drink."

It was a certainly blunt, scary assessment but it convinced me. I nodded.

Without jostling me, Eric took one of his wrist to his mouth and bit into his flesh. He lowered his bloody wrist to my mouth and I paused. If I had any extra blood, I'm sure it would be reddening my cheeks. Was I suppose to lick the wound? Latch on? Wouldn't this hurt him? I never had a lesson in the proper etiquette of drinking blood.

"Sookie, you must drink before it heals," Eric said. I put my mouth around the punctured flesh, trying to avoid any contact that would make this any more painful, and I sucked. Maybe it was because I was so spaced out from the lack of blood, but the first thing that came to my mind was how much this was like drinking a milkshake through a straw. His blood was much thicker than human blood and was not coming easy. The taste wasn't coppery like I associated with blood, either. It was pretty neutral, maybe a little earthy.

As I was musing about whether this could be considered an all-natural vampire vitamin milkshake, Eric's other hand was rubbing my arm up and down. He took a ragged breath as I took an extra hard suck, my strength coming back to me. I took two more and Eric's whole body shuddered underneath me coupled with a low moan. He pulled his wrist from my mouth and sat quietly for a moment.

I stared up at the trees and stars and watched them come into focus. Like, telescopic focus. Woah. I raised my hand in front of my face. Was I glowing?

Eric brushed my hair away from neck and was inspecting my injuries.

"You're healed," Eric said.

"I feel great," I said, as I waved my hand back and forth in front of my face. Not only was I glowing, but the glow was leaving light trails. "Maybe even a little high?"

I giggled and waved my hand in front of my face. Yup definitely my own personal light show.

"There are some side effects," he started.

I jumped up from his lap and started moving my body. Every stretch felt like wonderful and my body seemed to hum with energy. I wanted to test this out. I did a vertical jump in place. I was no Michael Jordan but I was definitely getting close to three feet off the ground.

"Wow," I said. "Just wow."

"You will be stronger," Eric started again. But I was already gone.

I was running through the woods at top speeds. My sight was better so I could see any potential hazard. I felt like I could run all night.

I crashed right into Eric's chest, who apparently had decided to head me off with his vamp speed. He grabbed my arms, stopping me from taking off again.

"Your high will wear off by tomorrow, most likely," he said. "You will be stronger and faster. We should test your teleporting–"

"TELEPORTING," I said loudly, interrupting. "I forgot about that."

So I popped away. Even high, I had not forgotten the attack, so I went back to the cabin. I did not feel at all fatigued from the jump. I then realized I had managed to take off without a start and Eric would have no idea where I went, so I popped back. Eric was standing there, looking around wildly, sniffing the air.

"I'm here," I said. "Well, I mean, I was here but then I was at the cabin. Sorry. Meet me back there?"

I popped back before he could say anything.

I was doing push up handstands against the wall when he walked in. He gave me a pointed look and I just smiled and gestured with my chin that he should continue where he left off is his speech.

"As I was saying," Eric began again. "We will need to test if your range is extended. Maybe you can even try to teleport me. My blood should be extra potent in you for the next week or so, with the amount you took."

"Easy peasy," I said sing songy.

He smirked. "You will also notice your sex drive is heightened. You will have dreams about me that will be very sexual in nature."

Well, despite his proclamation that my sex drive would be kicked up a notch, that certainly killed the mood. I tumbled out of my hand stand on to the floor.

"What?" I said.

"It has to do with us making pets," he explained. "Sharing blood is suppose to make the human more entralled with us."

"Well, I'm not quite a human so don't get any funny ideas," I snarled at him, as I stood up and took in my sorry state. The high was definitely waning as I realized I was covered in blood. Recalling the attack and my moment of raw gratitude and weakness I showed Eric helped complete the end of my short-lived good mood.

I also realized that the shudder and moan from Eric earlier probably had something to do with the dark spot on the crotch of his pants that I was just getting around to noticing. Things had gotten real all of a sudden. I needed some distance.

"I'm going to go freeze my ass off in the water, anything else about drinking your blood I should know before I go," I asked.

"I can feel your emotional state, and find you," he said quietly. "I should have given you a blood before. Bill wouldn't have been able to hurt you as badly as he did if I knew exactly where you went and the state you were in. I'm sorry."

Eric seemed troubled by this, and was looking out the door instead of his patented intense eye contact routine.

"It's alright, I wouldn't have let you feed me any of your blood unless I was dying anyway," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

He looked back at me. "You should not be alone. Bill might be gone but he could have been with others."

"You are not watching me bath," I said indignantly.

And then Eric seemed back to normal with a smirk. "Who said I would watch? I got Bill's blood all over me. I was going to join you."


	6. Chapter 6

We started walking back to the lake that he took me to the first night but he stopped me after a few steps.

"Why don't you teleport there and I'll be right behind you," Eric said. "It will give you time to get in the water."

I shrugged and popped over to the lake, still marveling at how much easier teleporting had become. It didn't seem to be getting harder despite how many jumps I had done already.

The fear of Eric seeing my boobs helped me get in the cold water quickly. I went under the water, fingers in my hair trying to loosen up the caked on blood. I came up to see Eric on the edge of the water. I kept scrubbing my head silently watching him take off his boots. When he went for his belt buckle, I quickly twisted around.

"Whoa there buddy, a little heads up," I said, scrunching my eyes for good measure.

I heard a splash behind me. "It's safe to turn around and open your eyes, Sookie," Eric said from behind me.

I turned around to a wet, but gratefully submerged Eric, who was washing off his arms and from the wrist he had opened up for me. I reached up to my neck to touch where I was wounded. Even though Eric had proclaimed it healed, it was still amazing to feel smooth skin where Bill's fangs had torn into it half an hour ago.

"Wow," I said. "I didn't know your blood could do that."

"We don't necessarily want that fact widely known," Eric answered.

"But you could save so many lives," I exclaimed.

"Our blood is being used discretely in hospitals now," he said. "But at first, we didn't need a reason for the government to lock us up and use our blood without permission."

It was a valid point and something I could have imagined happening.

"Your aches and pains from training will be diminished," Eric continued. "It should also help you recover between jumps at the prison easier."

"Who am I saving?" I asked. It hadn't felt right or even real before but now with this power from Eric's blood still zinging through me, we could do it as early as tomorrow night.

My question was followed by a pregnant pause. "My child, Pam," Eric finally said.

Oh wow, the stakes were suddenly higher. As far as I knew, vampires only cared about the others they made into vampires. Niall, in one of his many lessons about other supernatural creatures, had told me vampires did not love, but came close to something like it when it came to their children.

"Why is she locked up?" I pressed.

"Because of me," Eric said.

"Because of you?" I repeated, stupidly. Why would he do something that put his child in prison?

"After vampires revealed themselves to the world, Pam and I opened a bar and mainstreamed," Eric began. "It wa comfortable. In some ways a relief after hiding parts of myself for a thousand years."

"You're a thousand years old?" I squeaked. That was old. Like, seriously, archeologists-would-love-to-dig-up-his-stuff old.

Eric nodded and continued. "When the loose vampire leadership decided to take more power, they offered me a place, but I wasn't interested. We were not in positions of governmental powers officially, but we had enough sway that I felt vampires were secure. Politics would not actually make us as a group stronger."

"But individual vampires...," I said, commenting on the unspoken idea Eric hinted at.

"Individual vampires willing to go along with this could gain lots of power, undeserved power," he spat. "And that's what has happened. The vampires that are now running the show are undeserving fucktards."

Wow. Not only did Eric suddenly start using contractions when he was upset, but he also had one of my favorite insults in his repertoire.

"They instituted unnecessary rules and paperwork, which I loathe. A lot of their actions were counterproductive, and would eventually have the humans turn against us if they were to find out about it. And those idiots were not being discrete. Vampires might be stronger, but there are more humans and easily could stage something in the daytime if they found out."

"Like the blood registry?" I asked.

Eric's quirked an eyebrow up at me. "You know about that?"

I nodded. "It's why I went to fae. But what does this have to do with Pam?"

"I was getting to that," he said evenly. "I was not the only one sick of their bullshit. I started meeting with other powerful and fed up vampires to see if a changing of the guard could take place, one that would put humans back in power and get rid of that time bomb that is the blood registry. You would be able to return to this realm safely."

Once again, I cursed being out of touch with my family in fae. They were going to freak out when they found out some vampires were trying to make it safe for at least half-breeds to continue living in America. Hell, they might even help.

"Unfortunately, he continued. "There was a traitor among us and the powers that be got a whiff of our plans. I was demoted from my role of sheriff on Area 5, this area of Louisiana. But just to ensure my submission, they had humans kidnap Pam during the day and take her to a silver prison built especially for vampires. Many of the other conspirators also had children taken and imprisoned, weakening our chance of staging a rescue operation. Some would almost certainly be killed while we rescued others."

"But you only want me to rescue Pam?" I asked.

"It would be too dangerous for you to go back in more than once," Eric said immediately. "They have a lot of security measures and while I doubt they have foreseen fairies teleporting in for rescue missions, they will be aware of an invader within seconds."

"But what if I could get more out quickly enough?" I asked. "Then you could continue with the overthrow."

"Once you jump back to me, I will be able to control Pam before she is able to attack you," Eric said. "I may be able to control myself around your scent but I can feel that Pam is uncomfortable, probably hungry. If they are starving her, they are starving the others. I will not be able to control them like I can Pam."

"Well, could you call the others so they could control their children?" I asked.

Eric paused. "Sookie, that would mean you would be known to vampires."

"Would you be able to stop them from attacking me?" I asked. "Or could you convince them I am doing them a big favor and to leave me in peace afterwards? And I mean, unless the overthrow works, I'll be back in fae right afterwards anyway."

Eric thought for a moment and nodded. "They would not attack someone who is able to save their children. I will call them and tell them to prepare."

"Great," I said. "I'm clean and cold, let's go back to the cabin."

"Why don't you try to teleport us back?" Eric suggested. "We will need to test how many trips you can do soon."

"Sure," I said. "After we put on clothes. Close your eyes."

Eric smiled wolfishly at me. "Say please," he said, somehow purring the words despite the lack of R's in his request.

"Uh, please close your eyes right now," I answered indignantly.

Eric closed his eyes but kept his smile plastered on his face. I quickly made my way to the shore, and tried to shake off as much of the water as I could before I shoved on my stilly dirty and bloody clothes. As I zipped up my hoodie, I turned to let Eric know he could get out and nearly slammed right into a very wet and still very naked Eric.

"Eric," I shrieked, turning back around and stumbling a few steps away.

"You do not say my name enough," he said. "For my liking."

"That's great, but once again, can you put on some clothes please," I said with my eyes squeezed shut as I tried to block out the feeling of the taunt muscles I grazed against moments before.

Eric snorted and then I heard some rustling. "Alright, let's get this show on the road princess."

I spun back, my eyes wide. How did he know I was a princess?

Eric, thankfully was dressed and looking at me expectantly. I took a slow breath and realized he was probably probably calling me a brat and had no idea how close his insult was to a real title.

"Alright," I said, changing the subject before I hopefully gave anything away. "Let's try."

I shyly walked up to Eric. "I assume I will have to be touching you to do this," I said, trying to play it cool. "Give me your hand."

I put my right hand, palm up. Eric put his hand, which surprised me at its coolness, in my outturned hand. I closed my eyes and pictured the cabin. I opened my eyes and I was at the cabin–but Eric was nowhere to be found. I quickly closed my eyes and teleported back, to where Eric was standing with his hand out in front of him.

"Let's try this again," I said, sticking out both hands, to which Eric immediately placed his hands into. I closed my eyes and tried again. Once again, I opened my eyes to the empty cabin. I sighed and teleported back.

"Alright, cowboy," I said, deciding if Eric can call me names, I can call him names too. "I think I got to bear hug you for you to hitch a ride."

Eric smiled broadly at me as I got into his personal space and wrapped my arms around his middle tightly. He wrapped his arms around my neck. I closed my eyes and tried again. This time, I felt a drag, like I was walking through water. I opened my eyes to Eric's chest with the cabin in the background.

"I did it," I said, as I let go of Eric's middle. He loosened his arms around my neck but didn't let go. He was looking at me with a lazy smile on his face.

"Your delicious teleporting smell is now spiked with my scent," he said, leaning into my neck taking a deep breath.

Maybe it was the glimpse and quick touch at the lake of his statuesque body or maybe the blood entralling was working already or maybe I was just admitting that it was ok to be attracted to a beautiful man that saved my life in a super sexy moment like this one but I felt my heart race at the thought of being kissed.

"Mmmm...Sookie," he murmured. I leaned into him, putting my face on his shoulder to give myself a second to think about actually doing this. Brain says no, body is screaming yes.

Eric's fangs clicked down and the sound instantly brought me back to Bill's attack. It was a very cold shower to my hormones. I ducked down and slipped out of Eric's embrace.

Eric looked at me with his mouth slightly open, his fangs exposed. He snapped them back up and shook his head, running his hand over his face, probably imagining whatever he needed to so he could have his own mental cold shower.

Once again I chided myself for having anything but resentment for my kidnapper, but it felt half-hearted this time.


	7. Chapter 7

**I should have written fanfiction years ago. I have never had more freelance work IN MY LIFE. Flying to Florida tomorrow to shoot something for a new client, but I'll bring my computer to see if I can get any writing done on the flight.**

* * *

Ugh, all these sexually awkward moments were not suppose to be part of the kidnapping. Time to change the subject.

"Why were you watching Bill?" I asked, wrapping my arms around me.

Thankfully Eric played along. "Bill is part of the new regime," he said, his voice tight. "Not so high up, he mostly worked on special projects. I was interested in his latest assignment that had brought him back to his human home. I saw him meeting with a fairy early on, which was what gave me the idea for the teleporting escape. I was surprised to see him with you and the other part-fae handcuffed a few days later, but I haven't been able to figure out the change in relation."

I was nearly bowled over with his statement. A fairy was voluntarily meeting with a vampire who had shacked up near a portal? Something was off. Really off.

"What did the fairy look like that was meeting with Bill? Did you catch their name?" I asked.

"Bill called him Breandan," Eric said simply. I must have visually blanched because Eric frowned. "Does that name mean something to you?"

"It means that my family's enemy is meeting with someone in the vampire regime," I answered. I rubbed my eyes, trying to will away the headache I felt forming. I was not sure exactly what it meant that Breandan was meeting with a vampire outside of a portal that was mostly used by the sky fairies, my family's clan. I was even less sure what it meant in terms of the registry and vampire regime. Once again, I really needed to talk to Niall.

"Listen," I said. "Can I use your phone? I need to call my grandfather about this."

"And let him know where you are? I think not," Eric said. "You can inform your grandfather after I have Pam."

"He needs to know," I shot back. "He might even help if it could hurt Breandan. He is much more powerful than I am."

"Who is your grandfather?" Eric asked.

I bit my lip as I realized I said too much. I felt more certain I wouldn't be held longer if Eric knew I was royalty but I didn't want to take my chances either.

"Answer me Sookie," Eric said stepping into my space menacingly.

"Make me," I quipped, the petulant child in me answering him.

Eric grabbed my upper arm, startling me so much that I found myself outside the cabin in the woods not far from the front door, apparently having teleported out of fear. Nice to know the power was a built-in defense mechanism.

I paused, wondering if I should make a go for the portal again or return to the cabin and make an apology to Eric and try to change the subject from my family and see if he had any other information that could prove useful. As I struggled to make a decision, I heard the door open and then a whishing sound. Eric was suddenly in front of me and before I could comprehend what was happening his hand was on my wrist, snapping on a manacle.

"You are freaking kidding me," I said as I looked at my wrist, the itching alerting me to the fact that it was iron. "I thought you broke this."

"I had more," he said.

I refused to look at him as I discreetly tried to teleport. Just like I expected, and Eric must have known from his fairy research, I couldn't teleport with iron on me.

"Take this off me right now please," I said, trying to remain calm and think of one of Gran's favorite saying, the one about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar. Hopefully it worked for vampires too.

"I'll take it off when we get to the prison," Eric said equally calmly although I could see the tension in his face.

"Listen, I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to teleport, it just happened."

"All the more reason to keep it from happening again," he responded.

"Christ Eric!" I snapped. "This is fucking ridiculous. First you come on to me all creepy with the sniffing and then a minute later you put me on a leash? On top of keeping me imprisoned for days! What is wrong with you? Do you really think when you take this off I will actually help you now?"

"You will if you want those others saved," he answered simply, ignoring the rest of my insults.

I screamed in frustration. The lack of control I had in this situation had me breathing erratic. It felt like walls were closing in.

I felt Eric's hands on my shoulders. "It's going to be ok. Calm down. Breath deep."

"Easy for you to say," I snarled.

"I am asking a lot of you, its true," Eric said. "But I have also saved you. Twice. And would do it again and again if necessary. I have spent days with you, strengthening your powers, at the cost of time spent trying to rescue Pam. I can tell you value family, and I need you to help save mine. Please."

I had calmed down my breath during his speech. I was back to being logical. He had the upperhand and as much as I hated the idea of acquiescing, I was not likely to win this. And he apparently was a good judge of character because I did feel a bit indebt to him and the request to help rescue Pam resonated with me.

I took a deep breath. "Let's get back to the cabin. I'm tired."

He nodded and turned back to the front door as I started walking with him. I wasn't physically tired, Eric's blood was still going strong, but emotionally I had been on a rollercoaster for the last few hours and needed some down time.

We walked to the stairs leading to his underground room, which Eric had put a light in the second night after I nearly fell down the steps. I'm pretty sure that with Eric's blood pumping through my veins I wouldn't need that light anymore. He did the retina scan and I walked into the room and turned to look at Eric, who stayed in the doorway.

"I'm going to go make some calls," Eric said. "I also need to scout a building for you to practice teleporting into tomorrow night. We should have you practice going into unfamiliar structures before we go to the prison. I will be back late."

I nodded and he closed the door behind him. I turned back and walked to what I considered my side of the bed and shucked off my dirty clothes. I pulled on the only other t-shirt I had and reached to turn off the light by the bed. But as I clicked it off, the room didn't darken. Because I was glowing.

I shrieked and started flailing at my body like it was a bug I could swat away. I must have made a racket because Eric was suddenly back in the room, next to me looking concerned.

"Why am I GLOWING?!" I shrieked as I continued to swipe at my skin.

"It's a fae trait," Eric said, amusement coloring his words. "It's fine."

"Make it go away!" I said frantically. I didn't recall ever seeing any other fairies glowing and I did not need to suddenly become a freak all over again in a whole different dimension.

"It is beautiful," he said. "And as far as I know, a very common skill. It can be strengthened so the light is blinding, maybe even painful to vampires. It could be helpful."

"But how do I control it?" I was still panicking. And finding myself relying on a vampire to talk me down from this fairy crisis also had me on edge.

"Sit on the bed," Eric said. "Lotus position."

I followed his directions, filing away a question about Eric's yoga practice for later when I was not my own personal nightlight.

"Close your eyes," he said. As I did, he continued. "Now breath in time with me."

I opened one eye and looked at him. "But you don't breath."

"But I can breath," he answered. "Close your eyes and follow my breath."

I closed my eyes again and expelled the air out of my lungs as I heard Eric do the same. For a moment longer than was comfortable, Eric was silent. He took a deep breath in and I did the same. We did these slow, deep breaths until I was lulled into a meditative state. I had not felt so relaxed in god knows how long.

I must have nodded off for a moment because I was suddenly aware of Eric untucking my legs and leaning my head back onto the pillows.

"Am I still glowing?" I asked drowsily as Eric pulled the blanket over me.

"No," he said. "Sleep."

So I did.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay, was busy accomplishing a life dream (I swear I've gain a ton of momentum with my work since starting this fic). So I thought I should reward y'all. How do you like them lemons?**

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That night I had the most vivid, and most sexy, dream of my life. Eric and I were training in the woods like we had before I had his blood. I was running and Eric was trying to catch up with me.

On the first round, I was able to teleport as he threw himself at my legs. I turned around, a roguish smile on my face as I strutted back over to Eric. He got up, with an equally as big grin on his face.

I stopped when I was mere inches from him and reached out and slowly started unbuttoning his shirt. As I pushed it off him, I saw that he was wearing a white tank underneath. I pouted at the lack of exposed skin and Eric reached out and stroke my cheek.

"It will just help draw our game out, lover," he said. "So whoever wins will be really ready for a treat."

I bit my lip at the thought of what that treat could be.

"Run again," Eric purred.

I beat him two more times, divorcing him of that pesky tank and his belt. He was beautiful, his pale chiseled abs and strong arms drawing me in like a beacon. I blame the distracting skin for how he was able to capture me on the next run. He took my shoes. When I tried to protest, he shushed me.

"It will slow you down and I find myself impatient to catch you," he said. "I want to get you naked and writhing under me."

My heart sped up as his words lit a fire in me that I knew he was going to have to put out. Not quite ready for our game of strip tag to be over, I shrieked and ran away. But he caught me twice in a row and my shirt and shorts went next. Finally, I was down to my skivvies. I managed to evade Eric on the next two and after taking his shoes, ended up giggling uncontrollably as I pulled down his pants to expose his little red undies.

"See something you like?" He asked as he did a full turn, as my giggles turned to gawking.

"Eh, I think I've seen better," I said teasingly before taking off at full speed.

But he quickly caught me again, throwing himself on top of me, so I was pinned on my stomach between him and the ground. It went from playful to something else very quickly.

Still using his weight to hold me down, he unhooked my bra, his fingers ghosting against my skin, leaving trails of goosebumps. He continued with the barely there touches as he dragged the straps down my arms. He flipped me over and discarded my bra in one motion, exposing my breasts to him. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest as I met his intense gaze.

"Beautiful," he murmured before leaning down and attacking my lips with his own. I responded in kind, apparently wound up more than I realized. I pushed into him, our chests pressed together and wrapped my arms around his neck. His arms went around my waist and without losing contact with my lips he sat us up and pulled me into his lap.

My legs were on either side of his slim hips and the hard bulge barely contained in his underwear was rubbing against my core. I moaned throatily as he moved his kisses down to my neck, punctuating each one with a push of his hips.

Eric's lips finally reached my breast and I nearly screamed when he quickly licked and then blew cold air on my aching nipples. He didn't tease long before he pulled one nipple into his mouth and rolled the other between his fingers. My hands were wrapped in his hair and I leaned my forehead against the top of his head as I tried to catch my breath. But with what he was doing with his tongue, catching my breath was not happening. But it wasn't like was going to complain or tell him to stop.

He gently laid me down back on the ground as he continued his trail of kisses down my body. Starting on the underside of my breasts and not missing a spot of skin as he worked his way down. When he reached my underwear, he hooked his fingers on either side and ripped them clear off.

Eric quickly settled between my legs and ran his hands up and down my thighs, parting them a little more each time.

"I've been waiting to taste you since I met you, lover," he said before starting his kissing again on my inner thigh, moving his way up my legs at a leisurely pace that had me panting.

As he reached my center, I arched off the ground at the intensity of the feeling. A cool tongue on heated flesh. He started with slow, light circles that turned into sped up powerful swipes of his tongue that had me thrumming. I didn't last long before my first orgasm rolled over me in a sweet relief.

As I came dowm from my high, my eyes met his, hovering a few inches away from where he had started putting out my fires. While we continued our lusty stare, he trailed his fingers over my tender slit and his fangs snicked out. I threw my head back with a gasp as his fingers gently probed me. I gripped the damp leaves and dirt underneath me for support and tried to concentrate on the stars peeking through the tree canopy. I felt like I was floating away and need something unmoving to focus on.

"Look at me, Sookie," Eric rasped. My head snapped back down just in time to see Eric's head lower and followed by the pinch of his fangs sinking into my skin while his fingers started pumping in and out of me.

My world seemed to blast apart as an intense orgasm overtook me. It seemed the earth moved under me. The pleasure that his fingers and fangs brought me was just on the right side of too much stimulation. I had never felt anything so good in my life and imagined that one other part of Eric still had the possibility of topping it.

"Eric," I moaned, blindly groping for him with arms that were barely functioning.

Eric complied with my unspoken request and crawled up my body. He paused when we were eye to eye, his hips resting intimately between my parted legs, taking a moment to push a stray piece of hair out of my face.

"This is right," he said. "This is best. You are mine."

Just as he shifted his hips to enter me, I woke up with a start. I was in bed, in the underground room, not sprawled out naked outside under the stars. Eric's side of the bed was empty and not slept in.

I had never woken up without him there but was grateful to have some time to calm down. I reached down and touched myself, feeling a wetness between my legs that would have been impressive if there was actually sex, much less dream sex. My legs felt a little tingly too. As crazy as it sounded even to me, the tingles felt like the fading echo of an orgasm.

"Lord all mighty, he was not kidding about the sex dreams," I huffed.

I got out of bed and checked the wrist watch Eric had left on the dresser for me. It was after 6 in the evening. The sun was still up but not for long.

I tried to sort myself out a little, patting myself down with a towel and fixed my hair. I made my way over to the fridge and wolfed down the sandwich and juice left for me.

I was still feeling the power of Eric's blood and did some tentative stretches and push-ups to test out my body. Instead of feeling fatigued after 10 push-ups like normal, I did 50 without stopping. I would have tried teleporting around the room but I still had on that stupid iron shackle Eric slapped on last night.

The eating and push-ups took all of ten minutes and then I was left with my thoughts of why Eric was not there like usual. Could he had been trapped? Killed? How was I going to get out if he didn't come?

It didn't take long before I started pacing as I imagined all the terrible things that could have happened to Eric and debating how long I could survive with the swig of juice I had left in the fridge. It felt likes hours before the door opened and Eric walked in, looking no worse for wear.

"Eric," I shrieked, throwing myself at him. "I thought you were killed and I was going to slowly starve to death down here."

"I didn't have enough time to make it back after scouting a building for your practice," he said, wrapping his arms loosely around my waist. "I'm sorry."

I took a step back, so we were no longer touching, shyly looking at him. Have you ever had a sexy dream about someone and then had to face them the next day like nothing was up? It's awkward.

Eric, with the total lack of tact I've come to expect, sniffed the air and grinned ferally at me. "How did you sleep without me? Were your dreams pleasant?"

I slapped his arm. "Oh hush you," I scowled. But I felt something had changed. And it wasn't the enthralling, because as hot as that dream was, it was not clouding my waking world.

I was ready to do this rescue mission. I felt strong. I still wasn't thrilled about being held against my will, but Eric had my back. He had made a reasonable argument about how he had helped me develop my powers and promised to help save my wards. He would be a great ally in the future.

And I was looking forward to being a Lara Croft-like ninja for the night.


	9. Chapter 9

"Tonight we will practice jumping into a building," he said. "We will also be meeting with the others."

"Your fellow vampire conspirators?" I asked.

"The very ones," he confirmed.

"Let's get going then," I said.

We walked out of the cabin and Eric held his arms out to me. "We're flying."

Internally I did a little dance at the chance to be a bird again but I played it cool as I walked up to him.

He swept me up bridal style and we were above the trees in seconds. It was a cloudy night but the moon was full, so the sky that I could see was illuminated. My mouth must have been hanging open because Eric spoke. "It is nice to see someone moved by something I have taken for granted for so long."

"It's beautiful," I said, pausing before continuing. "I've always been drawn to the sun, laying out working on my tan whenever I got the chance. Turns out I'm a sky fairy, which explains my attraction. But the night sky from this perspective is spectacular. It's so beautiful my chest hurts a little bit."

Eric didn't respond and I took the time to enjoy the stars. We continued flying mostly over trees for another 30 minutes before a large, seemingly abandoned warehouse came into view. Eric brought us landed us next to it and put me down.

"I want you to try to teleport in without knowing the layout," Eric said. "We need to figure out how much information on the building you need before you can successfully teleport."

I nodded. I had wondered that myself.

I put my wrist out to Eric and he undid the iron. Rubbing my wrist, I looked up at the building, picked out a window with missing and jagged panels. I concentrated on trying to imagine what the empty warehouse room on the other side of the broken window might look like and closed my eyes.

I felt the familiar pull and I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a room next to the broken window I had picked out. It was a large, dusty industrial space but thankfully devoid of anything for me to teleport into. So far, I hadn't popped in the middle of a tree or anything like that, so hopefully that was just how the power worked. I walked over to the window and waved to Eric before jumping back.

"Very good," he said smiling. "What about a room in the back?"

I scrunched up my nose. "I don't even know how to start without some sort of visual guide."

"How does it work?" He asked. "You were able to go to that room without seeing it."

"Yes, but I just sort of imagined what the empty room on the other side of that window would look like," I said, pointing. "I did have a little visual information."

He nodded. "That is good to know," he said. "The rooms are all very similar so why don't you try to imagine almost the same thing and see if that works."

"I'll try," I said, uneasily. This idea didn't feel like it was going to work. I closed my eyes and imagined the room I was just in, but without a broken window. It didn't work.

"No dice," I said to Eric.

"Look at this and try again," he said, pulling a blue architect diagram folded up from his pocket.

I looked over the paper, trying to discern which would be a place I could jump. It wasn't very clear what I was looking at immediately, but I sussed out the front from the back and picked a room towards the rear. I pointed to a room on the paper.

"That one," I said. "I'll try that one."

I closed my eyes again and tried to jump to the room. But in my head I just saw the schematics. All in blue too. I opened my eyes and shook my head.

"Here," Eric said, who suddenly was holding photos of what looked to be a room in the building. It was very similar to the space I had been in minutes ago.

"Why didn't you just show me this immediately if you had it?" I huffed.

Eric grinned. "I wanted to test your abilities. I can get us photos of the prison from a guard I've been paying for information. But we might not always have photos when we need you to pop in somewhere."

I filed the idea of future missions away to process later. I grabbed the photos from Eric's outstretched hands and studied them. They were from several different angles, inside and out, macro and wide. I wasn't sure how to explain it, but this kind of information felt "right." A mental block removed that would allow a physical act. I'd probably sound like Yoda if I tried to explain it any more than that. I closed my eyes and opened them to find myself in room in the photos.

I walked to the window and looked out. I was definitely in the back of the building, a room I hadn't seen outside the photos. Eric zipped over into my view. I smiled and put up my hand to wave but Eric stopped me.

"Others are here," he said quickly. "Come here now."

I jumped to Eric who immediately pushed me behind him as two others sped into the area with the now familiar blank spot showing up in my head. One was a petite redhead who didn't look to be over 18, the other a super thin, dark-haired guy who looked even younger. Despite their youthful look, both had a vibe that screamed danger. So of course their attention was directed right at me.

"Who do we have here," the red-haired girl vamp said, breathing deeply.

"She is mine as well as your best chance of getting the twins back, Sophie-Anne," Eric said.

The whole possessive thing would have caused pause if I wasn't too busy getting nervous at the teenage vampires' eyebrows went up.

"So you did it, you found a fairy," Sophie-Anne crowed. "Can we eat her afterwards?"

"What part of 'she is mine' did you not understand?" Eric said to her.

"Do not speak to your queen with such insolence," the other vampire snarled at Eric.

"Actually Andre, she is my former queen," Eric said smugly. "Who might end up owing regaining her crown to me because I was able to acquire a fairy."

I rolled my eyes. Acquire, kidnap, potat-o potato-e. You know, vampires would be great public relations people with the spin they were able to bring to a situation.

Andre did not seem to like that answer and started to growl and his body looked wound up and ready to let loose. Sophie-Anne put a hand on his arm and the growl faded. He still looked ready to strike.

"Can we get a demonstration?" she asked. "I am still unsure this is the best method. If she fails, they might kill them."

Eric nodded and turned his head to give me a sideways glance. "How about it?"

"Sure," I said, trying to keep my voice even. Eric didn't seem nervous, so I figured I was safe from these two probably hormonally imbalanced killer teenagers.

Eric pulled out more photos from his leather jacket and held them out to me. "I'm going to go wait in this first room, and I want you to come get me. I'll then run to the next one in the stack of photos and you'll do it again. We need to see if you can get up to six, in less than two minutes."

I flipped through the photos and took inventory of how my body was feeling. Still great after those little jumps. Even carrying Eric for six rides didn't seem like it would be impossible. I tucked the photos in my back pocket.

"Get going cowboy," I said.

Eric quirked an eyebrow up at me and took off. I planned to give him a bit to get there but Andre cleared his throat behind me.

"Time to go fairy," he said as I turned and made eye contact with him, raising his cellphone so I could see the stopwatch app going. "The clock is on."

I turned away, suppressing a shudder from the creepy eye contact. And to be on the safe side, I popped away to the first room. Eric was standing in a corner with a smirk on his face. Since the "clock was on," I took a few swift steps towards him and wrapped my arms around his middle and stepped in close to him. He wrapped his arms around me and I took us back.

The moment I let go Eric took off again. I pulled out and glanced at the photo of the next room and jumped there. Eric was in the opposite corner of the room this time. He met me halfway and we simultaneously wrapped our arms around each other.

I popped us back and we went through the same motions. By the fourth trip I was feeling a little lightheaded. By the time I popped in for the sixth, I was dizzy, like the kind of dizzy Jason and I would as kids get when we held hands and twirled around and around and then tried to walk in a straight line.

In my hazy, I didn't see Eric, so I tried to turn around but nearly lost my balance as the dizziness really set me. Cool hands steadied me from behind. I turned and tried to make Eric's face the nonmoving center of a spinning room. His eyes looked dilated. I guess all the popping was creating a cloud of fairy perfume. But he seemed to be under control.

"Are you well?" He asked.

"I'm feel a little woozy," I said.

"Can you jump us back safely?" Eric said.

I paused for a moment to check in on how I was feeling. Dizzy, but still strong.

"Yup," I answered.

I grabbed a hold of him and took us back outside to Sophie-Anne and Andre, who was holding up his phone to display the time. 1:34. I was about to give Andre a smug look but I realized they both Andre and Sophie-Anne had dilated eyes and were stepping towards me.

Eric grabbed me and pulled me into his side under his arm, staring down the other two.

"She is mine," he snarled. "Stop."

They stopped but still had that look in their eyes that they were ready for a treat. I was about to whisper to Eric an offer to pop us away but he had a different idea to get his point across. He whipped me away so he was completely between us. He leaned down and breathed in my ear "follow my lead," before wrapping his other arm around me, and laying a doozy of a kiss on me.

I was indignant for a moment, feeling like I was some piece of a chess game the vampires were playing and opened my mouth to protest, but Eric just slipped his tongue in. At that I caved and closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissed back. I would trust Eric that this was the more enjoyable route to show the others what was up.

His lips left my mouth after a few moments and trailed down my neck, suckings little bits of my skin into his mouth, giving me goosebumps and maybe hickies. His head was turned towards Andre and Sophie-Anne, and though I couldn't be sure, felt like he was probably staring pointedly at them. His hands were running up and down my back in a reassuring way. I sighed, trying to show my contentment at being "Eric's," partly for show and partly because hot damn, that kiss was great.

I "heard" three other vampires approaching and shockingly, a human mind. I had not bothered with shields all week and apparently Eric's blood had strengthened the telepathy because I was getting a stream of thoughts from this person even though I could not see the newcomers yet.

He, it felt like a he anyway, was thinking a mile a minute. First he was thinking he wished he brought a little notepad to take notes on the meeting. Then he was worried he wouldn't remember all the details when he reported to his boss later. It sounded like a nervous chatter even as it was his inner dialogue.

I was staring in the direction they were coming in, my head tilted as if to pick up a better signal. Eric had stopped his kisses and was looking at me with concern in his eyes. "Sookie?" he asked.

I didn't respond. Something felt off about these thoughts and I needed to pay attention.

As the group entered the clearing I gasped as the human, who was, in fact, a man, thought about how we would all be captured after he reported this meeting to his boss, just like the other vampires were when he ratted out the group the first time.

"I found your leak," I said, pointing angrily at the man, who at my announcement, visibly pale.

Eric's face went cold and he stepped back from me. "And just how do you know that?"

Oh right, he doesn't know I'm a telepath. Fiddlesticks.


	10. Chapter 10

**I love doing these little author notes. It's like the 21st century fireside chats. I'm pretending I am FDR, talking to you like its just you and me, and I'm reassuring you it will all be alright. Eric's pants will be off again eventually.**

**Also, I've constantly read about how writers consider comments "crack" but a lot of y'all sound like bots. The plethora of comments that are all "good chapter more please" sound like someone created a script to post something automatically. I still appreciate it, but comeeee on! I want some specifics.**

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"Do you work for the government?" he demanded, the kiss we shared moments ago completely forgotten. The rest of the vampires had their fangs down.

"No, no no, they are after my kind, remember?" I said as I tried to take a step back and put up my hands up in a sign of submission. He grabbed my arm and with his other hand and pulled the manacle out of his pocket and put it on my wrist. I was too concerned with my fumble to feel like a dog who chased a truck and was now back on her leash.

"I am waiting for an explanation, Sookie," he spat.

"Listen, Eric," I said, using his name to try to appease him. "Can we talk privately for a minute?"

"Say what you have to say here," called out a Spanish looking vampire, standing close to the traitor. "I'd like to hear why you think my lover would betray me."

Oh, she was definitely not going to like what I had to say. I looked at Eric, trying to give him my best puppy dog eyes. I had no idea how safe I would be if they found out about my telepathy. Could Eric hold them off? Would he?

Eric looked at me stonily, letting me know there will be no miracles here. I took a deep breath.

"I'm a telepath," I said as casually as I could. "He is thinking about how we are all going to be taken away after he sneaks away to call his boss like last time with your children."

Whatever they were expecting to hear, that wasn't it. I kept my eyes trained on Eric. The look of surprise and then hurt on his face and followed by him dropping my wrist like it was silver made turning my gaze to the others easier. They looked at me a little dumbly. Then they went to stony, like they trying to conceal their emotions. Oh!

"I would also like to point out I can only hear humans' thoughts," I said hurriedly. "Vampires are inscrutable to me. Like a black hole."

The silence continued.

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Andre asked, looking at Eric.

"Show them," Eric said to me, not really addressing Andre's question.

"Umm," I said as I rifled through the guy's thoughts, trying to drown out his sputterings of denial. I had never done this on command or even on purpose before. His mind felt chaotic, like someone hit the panic button. Understandable in the circumstance, but making it harder on me. Normally I picked up one-track minds, I guess. "He's worried Isabella will put him up on their sex rack but instead of play there will be torture."

I said that last part like I was reading from a teleprompter, not totally aware of what I was saying until it was out. I felt the blood pool in my cheeks as I got a very graphic image of the aforementioned sex rack and averted my eyes to the ground.

"What else?" Eric said, not acknowledging the sex rack or my blush.

"He's worried he will never see his mother Irma in Milwaukee ever again," I said. I was trying not to fidget, so I squeezed my nails into the palms of my hand. I didn't need them to think I was so nervous. It was a sign of weakness and I didn't imagine I had the luxury of looking weak at the present moment. It should look like I did this all the time. Preferably for Eric.

Eric looked at the lady vampire, who I imagined to be Isabella by how the traitor was looking at her.

"Are those details true, Isabella?" Eric asked.

She answered by grabbing the traitor around the throat.

"Has he already told anyone of tonight's details, Sookie?" Eric asked.

"No...but they are expecting a call from him," I answered, closing my eyes to concentrate on the guy's increasingly frantic thoughts. Also a convenient excuse not to meet Eric's now harsh expression. I wasn't sure if it was for the spy or for finding out my secret.

"Isabella, glamour your human to call and say we didn't meet," Eric said. "Don't kill him yet in case his disappearance would be noticed. Also limit any further damage he could do in the meantime."

She nodded and made eye contact with the still unnamed traitor and started talking to him in low tones.

Eric didn't acknowledge me as he strode to the group of vampires, with Andre and Sophie-Anne joining in. Isabella put the traitor down and walked over to them. He talked with them in hushed tones so I couldn't hear them. I looked elsewhere feeling awful, being grouped with the glamoured human in people that don't get to know the plan. It went on for a few minutes before he raised his voice so I could hear him.

"The fairy demonstrated her ability to get in and out of a building six times under two minutes to Andre and Sophie-Anne," Eric said. "She needs photos to do it. I will get our contact on the inside to take photos and get them to me before dawn. We will stage the rescue tomorrow. I'll be in contact after I receive them so we can coordinate further."

Great, now I'm "the fairy."

The vampires went from looking at Eric to looking at me. I locked onto Eric's profile, a compromise with myself of not looking down but not making eye contact with him, either.

With that Eric took a few long steps and grabbed me and shot into the sky. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to touch Eric as little as possible. He did not seem at all that happy to be close to me. We flew in silence. When the cabin came into view and we had descended enough to drop me, he did. I shrieked as I found myself stumbling a few feet to the ground but he quickly landed and started walking quickly towards the front door. He didn't look to see if I was following.

Swallowing my annoyance at being unceremoniously dropped I called after him.

"Eric, wait."

"You made me look incompetent in front of them," Eric roared, turning back to me so quickly it was like he had been waiting to say that to me. "I have trusted you and this is how you repay me?"

"I was afraid you would keep me kidnapped longer," I shot back.

"I saved you, you insufferable fairy," he said, still using his outdoor voice. "But yes, now you are in danger of a kidnapping, just not from me. Sophie-Anne looked as if she had won the fairy lottery. A beautiful, delicious blood source with telepathic abilities? I can assure you she is scheming with Andre as we speak."

I blanched. "You'd let them?"

"I was letting you go after the favor, remember," he said, his voice coming down, losing its emotions as it did. "You won't be safe here now even if the government is overthrown. Not just in Louisiana. Maybe not even anywhere in the states would be safe for you."

Well, there goes that plan. But something else was bothering me.

"But you said 'she is mine' and doesn't that mean they can't touch me?" I asked delicately, bringing up another supe lesson I had from Niall. All supes were possessive, especially the vampires.

"In the overthrow, Sophie-Anne would regain her queendom and I my position as sheriff and she could demand I hand you over," he said dully.

"You wouldn't be a king?" I asked incredulously.

"I've never desired the position," he said, his voice now mechanic sounding. He paused for a moment before walking back over to me and taking my wrist in his hand, taking off the iron. He dropped my wrist, sticking the iron band in his pocket.

"You should go."

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Return to the fae," he said. "I will find a different way to break into the jail."

My mouth dropped open. After all his planning to get a favor from a fairy, and then over a week of nonstop training, attempts on my life and exposing myself to other vampires and he was letting me go now? Just like that?

"I thought I was your only hope," I said, cringing internally at the accidental Star Wars reference.

"I never said that," Eric replied. "I can no longer insure your protection since I am unaware of whatever other secrets you may be keeping. It's better you return to your people."

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I had let him down. His concern was totally fair, since there was another big secret. But the rejection made me want to sink to my knees. It was that easy for him?

"What about the kiss?" deciding to buck up and bringing it up even though I didn't know if I wanted to hear the answer. "That was nothing to you?"

"It was just a show for them," he said. "Declaring you mine should have been enough but even before your big reveal, they looked too pleased. A show of passion, from me, was a signal that my claim was going to be enforced. There is not a show strong enough now to save you."

Just a show. Now the punched in the gut feeling felt more like someone had stabbed me and was turning the blade. He turned and started walking to the cabin.

"But what are you going to tell the others?" I called out, feeling like I was grasping at straws.

"It's not your concern," he answered not even pausing before going into the cabin, shutting the door behind him.

****At that moment I actually did sink to my knees.


	11. Chapter 11

**Got my first negative comment. I feel partially to blame, I should have put a disclaimer on this story: I love angst. LOVE it. My favorite stories are the one that have me crying. This last chapter is not even the worst of the angst I have planned for y'all. And for the critics out there, the ones who love the HEA stories that start that way, I have two words for you for why you should like fights and issues to overcome: makeup sex.**

**Also, housekeeping note – do my commenters expect me to message them? I see references to some exchanges in other stories' author notes. I don't plan on doing that, so please don't take it as affront. Besitos to everyone.**

* * *

I sat there for a long time. We had gotten back to the cabin with hours before dawn but I only managed to get up once the morning presented itself with its brightening skies, letting me know Eric would not be coming back out. This horrible night was not going to end anytime soon.

I started trudging to the portal, feeling too miserable to pop. I ran through the events of the night, reworking it in my mind to where I didn't end up disappointing Eric. I could have told him that evening before we left, on the flight over there, even as we practiced. I wouldn't let myself dwell on why I felt so bad, the truth overwhelming. But it was there, just under the surface.

Lost in my musings, I found myself going towards the lake and away from the portal. The lake was yet another place I could have told him about the telepathy, as I angrily kicked a stone towards the water, mad at it for the reminder. By the time I made my way to the clearing near my old home, it was full-blown morning.

The hum of the portal was just starting to tickle my skin when I felt it intensify. I looked up to see Claudine, followed by Niall, gracefully step out of it. They looked surprised to see me and even though I felt the same, I couldn't muster a reaction. I stopped and waited for them to walk over to me. Getting close to the portal for more than the few seconds it takes to get through makes my skin crawl.

Claudine, being my fairy godmother, knew right away something was off and came over and wrapped me in a hug.

"Oh sweetie, what's the matter?"

I loosely wrapped my arms around her, already feeling better at my her and Niall's proximity. God bless these feel good, fairy vibes.

Niall standing behind her, spoke up.

"We had started worrying about you," he said. "You were gone for over a week."

Still resting my head on Claudine's, I nodded.

"But you are well?" he asked.

I nodded again.

"And the others?" he ventured.

I sighed against Claudine's shoulder and pulled away. Even though I had been sitting for most of the night and felt a little childish doing it, I sat down cross-legged on the grass. I looked expectantly at Niall and Claudine who glanced at each other before joining me on the ground.

"Let me walk you through the week I've had," I began.

I started with the day of wrangling the part-fae that took too long, to the capture by my vampire neighbor, to being saved by Eric, his request and his promise to set the part-fae free, the training, to trying to escape and being attacked by Bill.

I started getting choked up talking about how helpless I felt, how I thought I would be drained.

"How did you escape?" Claudine asked.

I gave her a half-smile. "Eric killed him," I said. "And then healed me."

"You mean you had his blood?" Niall asked.

I nodded. The look Niall and Claudine shared did not escape my notice.

"What? Is there a problem?" I asked, a note of defensiveness creeping into my tone. I know there was no love lost between the fae and vampires, but he saved me. Come. on.

"What happened next?"

I pursed my lips at my unanswered question but picked up my story. I explained to them what Eric had revealed about Breandan, which definitely elicited a reaction and another shared look. They didn't interrupt, so I continued explaining how I could now teleport, making a point to note how much stronger it got after I had his blood, you know, the blood I had that saved my life. I finished up with a run down of the previous night and how my telepathy came to light.

Niall stood up when it was clear I was done.

"I must go back and meet with others to discuss Breandan," Niall said. "This is an even more serious threat than I thought."

I also stood, nodding. It was time to go. I started to the portal and took about ten steps before I realized Niall and Claudine were not behind me. I turned to see them standing close, speaking in hushed tones. They often did this, leave me out of discussions. I didn't really mind, I assumed it was fairy stuff that was on a need to know basis. They were very secretive, as all supes apparently. But this time I felt annoyed and left out inappropriately.

"Would you like to share with me what y'all are discussing?" I said, knowing the sassy Southern lady in me was really coming out when the 'y'all' slipped in.

They continued with their discussion, paying me no mind, for another few moments before turning and walking to me. Niall embraced me.

"I am proud of you for trying to help others and surviving these trials," he said in my ear. "Claudine will talk with you about what we can do now to ensure everyone's safety. I love you, great-granddaughter." He kissed my forehead before letting me go and breezing through to the portal.

I turned to Claudine, raising an eyebrow, a move that immediately made me think of Eric and felt the melancholiness slip back in.

Claudine walked to me, before grabbing my hand and pulling me back away from the portal and to the treeline. She knew the portal's effect on the part-fae and the day was starting to get hot.

"Let us sit again, Sookie," Claudine said and with a fluid motion pulled us down in the shade of sycamore.

"What were you and Niall talking about?" I asked. Claudine would occasionally fill me in, when it was just her and I.

"He gave me directions in regards to the part-fae that were captured with you," she said carefully.

"You are going to get them?" It wasn't unheard of for others to go to the part-fae, but I don't know if Claudine had ever done it. She had to spend a lot of time looking out for me, helping Niall and you know, having her own life too.

"Yes," she said. "Niall is concerned that they will be targeted by Breandan if he thinks they were special to us. That is not their fault so we need to pull them out. I'll quickly grab them and then explain when they are safely in fae."

I nodded, trying not to let the shame of the failure overrun me. The melancholy was still winning out a little, though.

"Do you care for Eric, Sookie?" Claudine asked me suddenly.

"I, uh," trying to buy myself some time before I answered her question. I still hadn't satisfactorily answered this to myself.

"Your face lit up when you talked about him," she offered. "And you looked, so, so sad when I stepped out of the portal. It didn't make sense until you told us about last night."

Claudine could really read me like a book.

"Why don't you go back and apologize to him?" she said since I still haven't said anything.

"Why are you trying to get me to go back to him? I thought the fae hated vampires?" I asked, grateful to skate her original question a little longer.

"We have fought in the past, but usually we just try to avoid them," Claudine said. "But Niall knows of Eric, and thinks he is worthy. Trustworthy and very powerful. Niall thinks if you were able to get him on our side, it could prove helpful."

"Oooooh, that's why you want me to go back," I said, realization dawning on me. "To use my womanly ways and get his alliance."

Claudine smirked at me. "That is what Niall wants," she said. "But what about what you want?"

I once again went silent. Claudine didn't speak up, giving me time to collect my thoughts.

"I was expecting the worst," I started. "Like, thinking this was it, I was dead. And instead, Eric saved me and treated me well. Sure, I wasn't thrilled to be held against my will but it honestly never felt that way. It was something I threw in his face, something I used to trump whatever argument. I would do the same in his position to save you too, Claudine."

She nodded, looking expectantly at me to continue. I sighed.

"If I am being honest with myself, I like him," I said, grimacing at how much like middle school-like this chat had started to sound. "But I don't think he feels the same, and can't."

"Sookie, he gave you his blood. That is a big deal in their world," she said. "He must care for you."

"I thought vampires didn't care about anyone but themselves and their children," I said.

Claudine pursed her lips and slowly shook her head. "Niall was simplifying things, telling you that. I'd agree they are less loving than the fae or humans, but when they love, its very intense."

Woah, we got from caring to love.

I shook my head. "I messed up," I said. "You didn't see the look on his face. He was betrayed and maybe put in danger by just blurting out that secret in front of all those vampires."

"Like I said before, why don't you go and apologize?" Claudine said. "If I were you, I would be there waiting when he woke up and start talking the moment he opens his eyes. You are bound to get some 'sorrys' in there that way."

"There is a retina scan, how am I going to get in–oh ya, duh," I said, realizing my new talent could skip all his security. Suddenly, I was uneasy with the thought of his safety. What if Breandan and his followers were to find out? Maybe he needs to get his lair iron-lined.

"Look, you telling us about Breandan is probably enough," Claudine continued, pulling me out of my worries. "You don't need to do what Niall wants. But since you don't want to be caught holding back anything else, why don't you let him know your great-grandfather, the prince of the sky fae, would like to discuss an alliance?"

I shook my head. "Claudine, why are you so open-minded about this? I mean, I feel like you are actually rooting for him."

"When I watched you before you came to fae, you seemed to just be getting by," Claudine said slowly. "Your telepathy made things hard for you, very unpleasant. You are a survivor, so you managed but it was...a half-life. In fae, you get along, but it seems hard there for you too. You are still very much a human and even though you are royalty, the fae can be jerks to outsiders. I think being in Bon Temps, with someone who is not frightened of your power..."

She opened her mouth and then shut it, looking unsure. I looked at her expectantly.

"I think he might be your hope for happiness and some normalcy," she said finally.

I sat there, mulling what Claudine said. She had hit some truths about not being a great fit in my old or new life. I realized this past week, despite the circumstances, had been comfortable. His silence, for one was like a vacation for my mind, it was able to relax. I also didn't feel judged by Eric, at least until I messed up. It was one of the more normal interactions I had ever had with a male. I felt immensely thankful for Claudine at that moment.

"I got lucky getting you as a fairy godmother, Claudine," I said.

She smiled but raised her eyebrow, waiting for me to say something on the topic at hand.

"So I should, at the very least, go back and apologize and try to talk to him right?" I said.

Claudine nodded.

"Can you help me pick out an outfit that might buy me a few more seconds while I say my piece?" I asked meekly.

Claudine's face broke into a large grin and nodded again, standing up as she did so. "Do you still have that lovely white and red dress in your closet? That should do the trick."


	12. Chapter 12

"Claudine, I can't wear this, I'm suppose to be saving a bunch of vampires tonight," I huffed. "My boobs may look great but this is so impractical."

Claudine and I had made it back to Gran's farmhouse, where I still had plenty of clothes. She had gotten me to put on one of my old favorites–a white dress patterned with red cherries bunches. Not the garish, Lolita-kind, but a subdued, almost botanical book pattern. It was tight through the chest and waist, pushing the girls togethers and popping them up quite a bit but flared out at my hips for some modest covering through the legs. Totally Gran-approved, but still.

"There is no way I am popping into a vampire prison looking like that," I said pointedly.

Claudine rolled her eyes. "I know. We will pack you a change of clothes for the rescue."

Not waiting for my answer, she grabbed a tote bag and stuffed in dark wash jeans, a black top and a black beanie I didn't get much chance to use in the mild Louisiana winters.

"There," she said, pushing the bag into my arms. "That is something you can change into after you've kissed and made up."

My heart jumped up to my throat. I was getting nervous and it was only noon.

"Since we have some time, do you want to have lunch?" I asked.

"Sure, let's pop over to the store and grab something to make," she said. "I still want to see your new skill, anyway."

We popped over to the local grocery, making sure to go to a secluded area behind the store where we would not be spotted.

"No fatigue?" Claudine asked, looking me over as we entered the store, no one any the wiser.

"Nope, I'm tired from being up all night and not sleeping right now like I have been the past week, but I feel the same as I did before the jump," I answered, grabbing a cart, making my way to the expensive vegetables aisle. Claudine ate organic when she was in this world, apparently there was a huge difference in taste between earth and the fae's produce. I haven't notice.

"You will have to take a nap if you are going to go on this mission tonight," Claudine said, picking up a lettuce mix.

I nodded, uneasily. A nap will make the apology time come that much sooner.

Claudine collected the rest of the mix for her salad while I grabbed some chicken. I needed something of substance to make it through the evening. We bought our groceries and walked towards the back of the store again and popped home.

We chatted about light-hearted things while we cooked. I had just taken the last bite of my chicken when Claudine stood up.

"Why don't I clean up these dishes so you can go lay down?" she said.

"I'll do them, you must need to run off to go save the others," I said.

"Nonsense," she responded evenly. "I'll do the dishes, go run my errands, and come back to make sure you wake up in time."

"Your errands?" I asked skeptically. The fae could really talk down about humans. I liked to point out the errors of Claudine's ways since we were close enough for her to handle my spunk.

She nodded. "I didn't call THEM the errands, I said I needed to go run errands," she said.

"So saving four people is an errand for you?" I pushed.

"Sookie, quit stalling," she said. "Go to bed. I'll be back a bit before dark."

She turned to leave but stopped in her tracks, pivoting back to me.

"Oh, but your vampire is very old isn't he?" She said. "How much earlier does he get up before sunset?"

I thought on it briefly. "Whenever he woke up, we were pretty much ready to go outside to train," I said.

Claudine's eyebrow went up. "Really? He should be getting up at least an hour before sunrise. You would have to spend some time inside."

I started to shrug before I froze, thinking what I was doing the hour before sunset.

Claudine's expression turned wicked. "Oh, that's just too much. What were YOU up to in the hour before 'he woke up?'" she said, doing air quotes for the last bit.

My face turned bright red. "I...was sleeping," I said, hoping that would be enough but I could tell by Claudine's face I was going to have to own up. "It's true! But, we shared a bed. There was only one! And, I just, would wake up clutching Eric, who slept naked."

I was not sure I had ever felt so mortified in my life.

"I blame the time in fae for making me all touchy feely-like," I said, desperate to wipe the look off Claudine's face.

"Sookie," she said, trying to will the wicked smile off her face. "I think he let you wake up naturally and was awake for a lot of that clutching."

Ok, now I KNOW I had never felt more embarrassed.

"No way," I said weakly.

"I think it's cute," Claudine said. "But ask if you don't believe me."

She smirked at me for a moment longer and walked over to the sink. She started the dishes and started humming, effectively dismissing me.

I still felt a little bowled over by Claudine's hypothesis but I dragged myself upstairs, to my old room. I pulled off my shoes and got under the sheet in bed. I stared at the ceiling, not sure sleep was going to come, despite how tired I had felt a few minutes ago.

Could Eric really have been awake for my unconscious clinging? I had seen no signs of it but Eric could have just been playing dead. I huffed at my own stupid joke.

My thoughts turned to what I would say to Eric when I got back to the cabin. Should I open with a sorry? Or about being a Brigant? Or if things look bad, could I find the courage to stop the conversation with a persuasive kiss?

Suddenly, I was jolted awake. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I turned my head sharply at a muffled noise. Eric was in bed with me, lying on his side, his head propped up on his hand, a small smile on his face. He was naked, at least from the waist up.

"You are especially cute when you are just waking up," he said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my eyes widening as I took in the sunny room. "How are you not burning up?"

Eric's smile grew even smaller as he reached out and grabbed a piece of hair that escaped my ponytail. He played with the strand for a moment, before putting it behind my ear.

"I wanted to say goodbye," he said.

"But I was going to come to apologize to you," I said.

Eric shook his head. "There is nothing to apologize for," he said. "I should have not treated you that way. But you leaving is for the best."

I must have looked as stricken as I felt because Eric reached out his hand around my neck pulling me down so we were forehead to forehead.

"I hate to give you up, my feisty fairy," he whispered. "I have never met anyone like you in my thousand years. It is necessary, however."

"But why," I said, coming out more emotional than I had meant.

Eric rubbed his nose against mine, breathing in as he did so.

"I want you to be mine," he said. "And that puts you in danger. You are going to be too tempting to too many vampires for me to keep you safe as this war is fought."

I opened my mouth to argue that I could take care of myself, thank-you-very-much, but Eric swooped in and swallowed my protests with a kiss. He pulled me on top of him, circling his strong arms around my back and wrapping his hands into my hair. I desperately grabbed onto him. He sucked on my bottom lip, before switching to my upper lip and then going back to exploring my mouth with his tongue. As passionate as it was, it felt like he was pushing everything into this kiss. I clung tighter to him and closed my eyes, trying to record the details of him.

I opened my eyes to Claudine gently shaking me awake. I looked around, confused when Eric wasn't there. I quickly put together that I had fallen asleep by the changed light in the room, now slanting in with pre-dusk light. I realized I had had another dream. It was such a different dream then last time. It was still a little sexy, but also sad. What did it mean? I also realized with foreboding I would soon be seeing Eric for real and I had settled on nothing before I fell asleep.

"Because I know you are worried about them, yes, the others are safe and in fae," Claudine said, as she stood up from the side of my bed. She walked over and grabbed a towel from the linen closet. "And yes, I woke you up with a enough time to shower, so scoot."

She handed me the towel and I walked to the bathroom on autopilot. I continued to mechanically undress and get in the shower, staring into space as I washed my hair.

Next thing I knew Claudine was zipping up the dress that somehow had gotten on my body. I was sitting in front of my vanity mirror and Claudine had the hair curler headed up, putting a big, loose curl in my hair.

"If I thought it would help, I'd make inane chatter to calm you down," Claudine said, concentrating on putting a large, loose curl in my hair.

"So, uh, you know how their blood works right?" I asked. "With the dreams, and the enthralling."

Claudine nodded, concentrating on my hair still. She was doing good, making it look nice without looking like I had tried to make it look nice.

"I just had a dream with Eric," I said. "But it felt more real than the last one. More like real life, not like enthralling or particularly sexy."

Claudine looked up and met my eyes at that. She pursed her lips for a moment, releasing a curl as she did so.

"I wonder," she started. "If your telepathy and fae-ness combined with his very old blood let you visit him in his dreams."

My eyebrows shot up at that.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Claudine asked. "You are such a wonderfully interesting creature. Not human, not fae. The telepathy is so powerful, even among us. And it seems to me that you two love birds are drawn together by something. I have seen far stranger things."

"Claudine, you freak me out when you talk about Eric and I," I said frankly.

"The world does not work in mysterious ways," she said. "It works in very logical ways, if you know what to look for."

She looked out the window, where the light had started taking on its golden hour coloring.

"Time to get you going," she said. "Are you ready."

I stood, taking a deep breath. "As ready as I will be."

I turned to Claudine, giving her a hug.

"Thanks for the hair help," I said. "Are you going to be around, just in case?"

She nodded and turned to her purse that was sitting at the door. She pulled a cellphone out and handed it to me.

"I forgot to tell you I got you this," she said. "Call me for anything. I'm going to stay here for the next couple days if you don't mind."

"Sure," I said. I walked over to the bag of clothes on the bed, stuffing the phone in a side pocket.

I took one last breath and put a smile on my face. Gran always told me going into a trial with a smile was a head start.

And then, channeling a little Eric magic, I turned to Claudine and winked before imagining his little room in his cabin and popped away.


End file.
